Encouragement from a Learner of English as a Second Language:
2012年1月8日日曜日
2012年1月7日土曜日
How NOT to learn English
If you are interested in learning pointless English by exercising, then these videos are for you.
If not, then Japolish can help you out!
2012年1月6日金曜日
How to Study English Effectively
Activate your grammar by thinking about the general grammar area before you begin to study. For example, if you are going to study English grammar focusing on the past, stop to think about what you did last weekend, where you went, etc. to help activate what you already understand about using the past. As with activating vocabulary, you'll help your brain bring up what it knows about the past simple in an easy way before you begin to focus on studying English grammar in detail.
2012年1月3日火曜日
"TH" Pronunciation English Meeting ESL Lesson
Free pronunciation lesson (North American English).
Pronunciation of the voiced & voiceless "TH" sound.
Pronunciation of the voiced & voiceless "TH" sound.
www.japolish.com
2012年1月2日月曜日
Here are some tips which may help you to master the English Language!
Surround Yourself with English
The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it. Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts, watch English news, movies and television. Speak English with your friends whenever you can. The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn and the more likely it is that you will begin “thinking in English.” .
Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible
There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language before they could teach it. However, there are several reasons why many of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers. One of the reasons is that native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate. The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they will become.
Watch English Films and Television
This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective. By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary and hear the flow of speech from the actors. If you listen to the news you can also hear different accents.
2012年1月1日日曜日
2011年12月31日土曜日
New Year Superstitions
Drinking and kissing your spouse or life partner at the stroke of midnight is a very popular New Year superstition.
Most superstitions, traditions and customs related to beginning of a year stems from the belief that whatever you do on the first day of the year will set the pattern for the whole coming year.
Other superstitions are to ward off evil spirits and invite Lady Luck in our house. January 1st is supposed to be the most important day of the year as everything we do on this day is supposed to become a part of our life for the next 364 days. Some popular New Year superstitions are:
- Avoid breaking things, crying and wailing on the first day of the year, if you don't want to continue the pattern for the entire year.
- Babies born on 1st January is said to be the luckiest of all throughout their lives.
- Do not let money, jewelry, precious items or other invaluable things leave your home on New Year Day. Do not pay loans and bills or lend things to anybody, if you do not want to show just-entered fortune the way to leave during the year. People go to the extent of not taking out garbage or even not dusting their carpets on this day to ensure that nothing goes out of home during the year.
- Dress well throughout the year by wearing new clothes on January 1.
- Evil One and his attendants and servants hate din and loud noise. So, scare them away by being as loud in New Year celebrations as possible. Church bells are rung at midnight for the purpose too.
- Full larders, cupboards stocked up with food and wallets and purses full of money bring prosperity in New Year.
- If you have to deliver presents on New Year morning, leave them in the car since New Year Eve on December 31st.
- If you must take something out from the home, let someone come with the present inside the home first.
- Never leave the home before someone comes in first. First footer in the house should be ushered in with a warm welcome and should not have flat feet, cross-eyes or eyebrows stretching out to meet in the middle.
- Pay your bills and loans before New Year Eve, so you don't have any debt left for New Year.
- People do not wash hair on New Year and wear festive red clothing for happiness all the year round.
- The direction of wind during sunrise on New Year morning prophesizes about the coming year. Wind from south foretells fine weather and prosperous times ahead, wind from north foretells bad weather, wind from east foretells famine and natural calamities and wind from west foretells plenty of milk and fish for all but death of a person of great national importance. No wind means joy and prosperity throughout the year.
- Token amount of work on first day of the year means advancements in career but starting out a serious work project is unlucky on New Year Day.
- Washing dishes and doing laundry on this day is said to lead to a death in the family during the year.
10 Unusual Traditions for Ringing in the New Year around the World
Did you know that in Switzerland people ring in the new year by dropping a dollop of cream on the floor? Or how about how Armenians bake special bread with “good luck” and “best wishes” stamped into it? We thought you didn’t. So in honor of 2010, here are 10 unusual traditions observed by different countries around the world.
1. Romania
In Romania, some believe that if you toss coins into the river, you’ll have good luck throughout the coming year. Even more impressive: some peasants use December 31st to predict the coming year’s weather by systematically peeling, salting and reading the skins of 12 onions. According to this source, “On St. Vasile’s Day or New Year’s Day, a person who is efficient in witchcraft and spells checks the level of the liquid left by the melted salt in each of the onions peels.” The level helps them determine the climate conditions in the new year.
2. Spain
In Spain, as the clock strikes 12, people eat twelve grapes—one for each month of the year, and for each toll of the bell. The tradition, which is believed to bring good luck, can be traced back to the year 1909 when there was a bountiful harvest in the town of Alicante and Alfonso XIII, the Spanish King, gave grapes to his peeps on New Year’s Eve.
3. Switzerland
Ever hear of dropping a dollop of cream on the floor to ring in the new year with good luck, wealth and peace? Well that’s what some do in Switzerland — it’s thought to bring a year of abundance. (Hey, don’t laugh… provided everyone cleans up his or her dollop, it’s a lot more civilized than screaming along with a trillion other people in Times Square.) Some Swiss also observe the tradition of dressing up in costumes to invoke good spirits and chase evil energies.
4. Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico, they blast car horns and boat whistles, ring church bells and beat drums to drive away evil spirits and demons. In some parts of the country they also throw pails of water from their windows at midnight in a bid to chase away the evil eye. Puerto Ricans also have an unusual tradition for bringing good luck in the coming year: they drop backwards into the breaking waves as the clock strikes 12.
5. Belgium
Belgium might be the only country where farmers wish their livestock happy new year to ensure 365 days of good health and well-being. Well, outside of India, where they bless cows frequently, and, of course, Sesame Street, where Bert and Ernie are always wishing the animals a happy this or that. Belgians are also known to exchange gifts on New Year’s, which they celebrate as Sint Sylvester Vooranvond (St. Sylvester Eve).
6. France
The French mix health and wealth and usher in the new beginning with a stack of pancakes. (Note to self: get rich quick scheme no. 145: open an iHop in Paris) Another unique custom in France is kissing under the mistletoe as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, sorta like Christmas traditions elsewhere.
7. Armenia
In Armenia, a special kind of bread is baked with good luck and best wishes stamped on it. Traditionally, people conduct a ‘Ritual of Fire’ on New Year’s Eve where all troubles pertaining to the old year are symbolically burnt. This is not to be confused with the “Ring of Fire’ in the fish tank on Finding Nemo.
8. Bolivia
In Bolivia, dolls made of straw and wood are hung outside homes for good luck. Coins are also baked into sweets. Whoever finds the coins will be prosperous in the New Year. It is also considered auspicious to leave 3 stones outside the door for health, prosperity and love. Other Bolivians elect to wear yellow-colored undies to bring themselves a new year full of money. Red undies, on the other hand, supposedly bring love.
9. Portugal
In the northern parts of Portugal, children traditionally sing carols as they visit houses where they are given coins and treats. The songs they sing are called janeiros and are said to bring good luck. As in Spain, eating 12 grapes at midnight ensures 12 months of happiness in the coming year.
10. Japan
Not unlike what happens in Chicago after every Cub’s season, the Japanese have ‘forget-the-year’ parties and generally consider it a time to forgive and forget. They hang straw ropes across their homes’ façades to ward away evil spirits and welcome good luck and happiness.
2011年12月29日木曜日
New Year's Lesson
New Year's Day is the first day of a new year. In 2012, it is on a Sunday. New Year's is a national holiday, so schools, banks, post offices, and government buildings are closed. People celebrate New Year's by attending parties and staying awake until midnight on New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve is the night before New Year's. At midnight on New Year's Eve, party goers blow noisemakers, throw confetti, and kiss their partner. Some cities have firework displays. Times Square in New York City has a famous New Year's countdown just before midnight. At exactly midnight a large ball covered with lights slides down a pole.
 | What is New Year's?
|
 | What is a New Year's resolution?
|
2011年12月28日水曜日
Christmasキャンペーン終了いたしました
12/25までのChristmasキャンペーンでは、たくさんの方にご入会いただき、
スタッフ、講師一同感謝しております。どうもありがとうございました！
ここ最近は、ネイティブ講師が面白いトピックや役立ちそうなトピックを
がんがん投稿してくれていますので、
英語が好きな方も苦手な方も是非チェックしてみてください。
早いものでもう2011年もあと3日。
大掃除やら何やらいろいろと今年やり残したことがある方は、
きれいさっぱり片付けて気持ちよく2012年を迎えてくださいね。
また来年多くの方とお話できることを楽しみにしています！
www.japolish.com
Why do people sing "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve?
It is a mystery, even to most Western, native speakers of English. Why do people sing "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve?
BACKGROUNDSinging the song on Hogmanay or New Year’s Day very quickly became a Scots custom, which soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (not to mention other Britons) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.
Bandleader Guy Lombardo is often credited with popularizing the use of the song at New Year’s celebrations in America, through his annual broadcasts on radio and TV, beginning in 1929. However, he most certainly did not invent or first introduce the custom, even there.
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many English-speaking countries and is often sung to celebrate the start of the new year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day.
The song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago" or "days gone by".
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.
And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne
Meanings
auld lang syne - times gone by
be - pay for
braes - hills
braid - broad
burn - stream
dine - dinner time
fiere - friend
fit - foot
gowans - daisies
guid-willie waught - goodwill drink
monie - many
morning sun - noon
paidl't - paddled
pint-stowp - pint tankard
pou'd - pulled
twa - two
www.japolish.com
Learning English - New Year Resolutions
Welcome to another new year! Do you have any new year resolutions?
'New year's' resolutions or 'New year' resolutions.
Both can be used. 'New year's' is possessive.
From the Telegraph
'New year's' resolutions or 'New year' resolutions.
Both can be used. 'New year's' is possessive.
From the Telegraph
www.japolish.com
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